Peachtree City UPDATES - Week of March 14, 2011

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief
Peachtree City has a lot of connections to Japan. With the businesses in our Industrial Park and nearby Newnan, many local residents have friends and family enduring the after-effects of the disasters last Friday. City Hall has received calls inquiring about local relief efforts, and we will publish information as it becomes available. Currently, we only have information on the national relief efforts. Some of the agencies providing relief efforts include:

Planning Commission meets tonight
The Peachtree City Planning Commission will meet on Monday, March 14, 7:00 p.m., at City Hall. The public is welcome. The agenda includes a Public Hearing on the Zoning Ordinance and regulation of hand-held and walking signs. There will be a workshop discussion of a proposed retail development on the former Line Creek Office Park tract on Highway 54 West. The originally advertised workshop discussion on the proposed rezoning of the 3.09-acre Faiyaz tract on Highway 74 North from OI Office Institutional to GC General Commercial has been removed at the applicant’s request. Visit www.peachtree-city.org/planningagenda for more information and the complete agenda packet.

St. Patrick’s Day is Thursday – Designate your driver now.
On March 17, everyone may be Irish for a day, but driving impaired on St. Patrick’s Day can have lasting effects. Here are some proven tips TO arrive home safely on March 17:
1. Plan a safe way home before festivities begin.
2. Before you drink, designate someone sober to drive. Leave your car keys at home.
3. If you’re unexpectedly impaired, call a sober friend or taxi or use public transportation to get home safely.
4. If you see an impaired friend try to get in their car, be a real friend and make other arrangements for them to get home safely.
5. If you see a suspected drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate to call your local law enforcement.
If you host a party March 17, use these party safety tips, and remember, hosts can be held liable and prosecuted too if someone they over-serve ends up in an impaired driving crash.
• Always make sure your guests have designated, sober drivers.
• Never serve alcohol to guests under 21-years-of-age.
• Always serve plenty of food and include soft drinks, juice, and water.
• Stop serving alcohol before the party ends (green beer is still beer). Start serving coffee (but not Irish coffee) and dessert instead.

Reporting Emergencies to 911
When someone is injured or severely ill and you call 911, the dispatcher’s ability to know our home address based on our phone number is a real time-saver. But what if you aren’t at home? Whether you are at a local park, ball fields, or on the paths, it’s important to give the dispatcher accurate information about the location of the emergency. If you are on the paths, provide the path number (the yellow decals are located about every 1/10 of a mile on the center of the path).

If you are at a sports event here in town, it’s important to give the name of the park (the Baseball/Soccer Complex on South 74, Meade Fields at Highway 74 and Rockaway, Riley Field on Wisdom Road, Glenloch Fields on Stevens Entry and Bridlepath, or the Braelinn Ball Fields on Log House Road). For the larger complexes, giving the field number is also important, and the numbers are posted in red on the light poles. The Fire Department and Recreation Department ask anyone calling from the larger sports complexes like Meade and the Baseball Soccer Complex have someone meet the emergency responders at the entrance to the park in addition to providing the dispatcher with the park name and field number.

Path Rules – Pedestrians on the left or right - CONTINUED
Whenever we run reminders about path safety, golf cart drivers and cyclists giving audible signal when approaching pedestrians, pedestrians being able to hear and walking on the left, we get several emails with additional comments and suggestions. Here are two more:
• If you are a pedestrian and a golf cart driver or cyclist gives the required audible signal, please provide a nod, a wave, or some other acknowledgement that you have heard them and are aware of their approach.
• If you are walking your dog on the path and they are trained to heel (on the left), walking on the left side of the path places you between your dog and any other path users. Even the friendliest dogs can get a little jumpy on heavily used paths, so this provides a little more distance. It also helps to keep the dog from extending the leash across the path, which can be a hazard to other path users.

Project Updates:

Path Connection to K-MART closed for reconstruction – Path #803 behind K-Mart at Braelinn Village Shopping Center is still under construction and will be closed when crews are working. Path users can still access the shopping center via other connections behind the center.

Path #1148 from Peachtree Parkway/Bridlepath and Waterwood Bend to J.C.Booth Middle School is planned for paving this week, depending on the weather and Public Works’ ability to get asphalt for the project (asphalt plant production is temperature dependent, and is not fully up and running for the warmer months yet).

Rite Aid /Whitlock Ellis entrance from Peachtree Parkway will have intermittent CLOSURES during construction of the Walgreens at Highway 54 and Peachtree Parkway. Access from Highway 54 will remain open. Path access via the Walgreens site remains closed.

Don’t Forget . . .

Peachtree City Planning Commission – Tonight, March 14, 7:00 p.m., at City Hall. The public is welcome.

Convention & Visitors Bureau Board Meeting – Wednesday, March 16, 5:30 p.m., at the Amphitheater Cast House (behind Public Works on McIntosh Trail). The public is welcome.

City Council Regular Meeting – Thursday, March 17, 7:00 p.m., in City council Chambers. The public is welcome.

Family Reunion Workshop- Saturday, March 19, 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center on Highway 54. The event is free, but reservations are required. Contact the CVB at 678-216-0282.

Fayette March for Meals- 1 Mile/5K Walk/Run & Festival - Saturday, March 19. Registration: 8:30 a.m. Race / Walk Start: 9:30 a.m. Third annual walk/run to benefit Fayette’s Meals on Wheels program. This event will start and end at Fayette Senior Services Life Enrichment Center, 4 Center Drive, Fayetteville. Registration for race participants is $30 ($35 after March 5) and includes lunch and a bag filled with gifts and discount coupons donated by local businesses. Spectators may purchase lunch on race day for just $5. On-site race day registration available. All proceeds will benefit Fayette’s Meals On Wheels program. Call 770-461-0813 for more information. Registration forms are available at www.FayetteLifeEnrichment.org.

Leisure Services Commission Regular Meeting – Monday, March 21, 6:30 p.m., at City Hall. The public is welcome.